Automatic display device for phonographs



' Nov. 24, 1942.

J. LE VY AUTOMATIC DISPLAY DEVICE FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed Dec. 22, 1939 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR \ZifiyZa y ATTORNEY J. LEVY AUTOMATIC DISPLAYDEVICE FOR PHOI JOGRAPHS Nov. 24, 1942.

Filed Dec. 22, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 rHn R O T N E V m X/Z /P/WZEV BYATTORNEY Nov'. 24, I942.

'J. LEVY AUTOMATIC DISPLAY DEVICE FDR PHONOGRAPHS Filed Dec: 22, 1939 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORI \faswxsrr ATTORNEY Nqv. 24; 1942. J. LEVY2,303,084

AUTOMATIC DISPLAY DEViCE FOR PHONOGRAPHS- Filed Dec. 22; 1939 i 4Sheets-Sheet 4 INYENTOR JZ-WRJ ZEW ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 24, 1942AUTOMATIC DISPLAY DEVICE FOR PHONOGRAPHS Jerry Levy, New York, N. Y.,assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of ten percent to LesterSoman, and twenty-five per cent to Andrew D. Weinberger, both of NewYork, N; Y.,

and five per cent to Leon Kellman ApplicationDecember 22, 1939,SerialNo. 310,493

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic display device for phonographs,especially phonographs which are arranged to play a plurality of recordsindividually or in any desired order, and its object is to combine andcoordinate such a pho-- invention I provide amachine of this type with apicture projection screen located on a conspicuous part of the cabinet,and upon which .the pictures or insignia allotted to the various recordsare to be shown. The display mechanism includes, in conjunction with asuitable lens system, amovable device carrying a plurality of picturescorresponding to the number of records in the machine, each picturebeing a characteristic view of an orchestra leader or the like orbeingotherwise appropriate to the particular record with which it isassociated.

My invention is particularly applicable to coindesired sequence withoutany attention or su-- pervision other than by initially setting theselective mechanism. In the usual machine of this type the operatormerely inserts a coin in a slot and then pushes a button opposite thename of the particular piece of music which he desires to play.

-Automatic phonographs of the above type are widely used to supply musicin restaurants, clubs, dance halls, etc. Many people, especially thosein the younger dancing set, have marked preferences for the music ofcertain' orchestra leaders of established reputations, and theirselections of dance music, songs, etc., are usually guided by suchpreferences.v My invention caters to the requirements of such people,and, by automatically displaying an attractive illuminated picture ofones favorite artist on the machine simultaneously with the playing ofeach record, not only provides a visual interpretation which enhancesthe aesthetic appeal of the music, but also increases the sales appealof the machine standard construction which is arrangedrto select any oneof a numberof records, swing it -to a position where it is picked up byaturntable,

,after which the record is played and then removed from the turntableand returned to its initial inoperative position. In carrying out my Ina preferred form of the invention, disclosed herein for purposes ofillustration, the various pictures which are adapted to be projectedupon the screen are mounted about the periphery of a rotatable wheelwhich is adapted to be rotated past the lens system in such a way thateach picture, when selected, will be properly and accurately centeredfor projection upon the screen and will remain in such positionthroughout the playing of the selected record. In this embodiment of theinvention the wheel carrying the pictures is actuated by the recordselecting mechanism, and upon the completion of the selecting operationa lamp is automatically lighted to project the selected picture upon thescreen as the record starts to play. After the record has been playedthe selecting mechanism returns to normal and the projection lamp isautomatically extinguished, and in its place suitable colored lamps maybeautomatically energized Ito illuminate the projection screen with anattractive iridescent display of color until such time as the machine isagain set in operation.

Another important feature of my invention resides in a specialconstruction of the picture supporting wheel which, as hereinafterdescribed, enables pictures on ordinary motion picture film to beinserted and removed instantly at the time the phonograph records arechanged.

These and other features and advantagesof the invention will bedescribed in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of a combination automaticphonograph and display devicr Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line55 of Fig. 3, showing the construction and mounting of the picturecarrying wheel and associated parts;

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on line 65 of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is anenlarged fragmentary view of the picture carrying wheel;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig. 7, showing a picturesecured in place on the wheel;

Fig. 9 is a similar sectional view showing how the pictures are insertedand removed through the periphery of the wheel; v

Fig. 10 is a transversesection taken on line II9 ofFig.7; and v Fig. 11is a diagram of the electric lamp circuits. a

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I show an automatic coin-controlled phonographof standard construction mounted in a cabinet I and, including the usualturntable 2 carried by a vertically movable shaft 3 supported by asuitable bearing member 4. The mechanism for actuating shaft 3 to raiseand lower turntable 2 includes a yoke which is secured to bearing 4 byscrew 5, and a pin I which connects the sides of yoke 5 and is pivotallyconnected to a bell crank lever 8 as shown in Fig. 1.

The phonograph records I9 are placed in annular record carriers or traysI2 of standard construction, and each of these record carriers has" an'arm (not shown) extending through one of a plurality of horizontalslots I3 in a cylindrical casing I4 which contains a rotatable shaft I5extendin downwardly through the center thereof as shown in Fig. 1.

I shall now describe the mechanism for selecting and initiating theplaying of th records. A bar I! is slidably mounted on shaft I5 by meansof arms I8 and I9.

This bar has an elongated longitudinal slot 29 and at its upper endcarries a projection or screw 2I which is adapted to engage selectivelywith the arms (not shown) of the record carriers I2 extending throughthe slots I3 of cylindrical casing I4. The means for operating therecord carriers I2 also includes an arm 22 which is fastened to theshaft I5 and extends through the slot 29 in bar IT, and at its outer endthe arm 22 is pivotally connected to a lever 23. The mechanism foroperating the record carriers I2 also includes a U-shaped member 24which is mounted on shaft I5 and is connected by link 25 to a lever 26which is actuated by the selecting apparatus mounted in the casing 21shown in Fig. 1. The phonograph appah ratus so far described forms nopart of my invention as it is of standard construction, being of thetype shown, for example, in Patent #2,002,236 of May 21, 1935, and Ihave therefore shown only so much of such apparatus as will be necessaryto an understanding of my invention.- A standard coin-controlledphonograph of this type is provided with a coin chute 28 and with aplurality of push buttons or plungers 29 corresponding in number withthe phonograph records employed and appropriately labeled with the titleof the record, including, usually, the name of the orchestra leader,vocal artist or the like represented on each individual record. Thestandard record selecting and playing mechanisms controlled by the coinand the selector buttons 29 are mounted in the casing 21. For thepurpose 'of understanding my invention it is sufiicient to lect and playany given record of the group, the mechanism is set in motion to raiseor lower the bar II, as the case may be, causing the projection 2I onthe upper end thereof to enter one of the slots I3 in the cylindricalcasing I4 and engage the arm of the selected record. carrier I2.

Thereupon the mechanism including shaft I5 and lever 23 is actuated toswing the selected record carrier out of line with the other recordcarriers and into alignment with the turntable 2 which is automaticallyraised by its shaft 3 and its associated mechanisms into a positionwhere it enters the annulus of the selected record carrier I2 andengages the selected record II! as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l.The turntable 2 rotates and the selected record is played, after whichthe turntable 2 returns to the normal position shown in Fig. 1,returning the previously selected record III .to its carrier I2 which isthereupon swung back into its normal position in alignment with thestack of record carriers shown in Fig. 1. In standard automaticphonographs of this type, however, the record selector bar I7 andassociated parts usually remain in the position to which they havepreviously'been moved until such time as the machine is again operatedto select and play either the same record or another record.

In accordance with my invention the automatic phonograph described aboveis provided with a projection screen 30 which is prominently located,for example in the front panel of the cabinet I where it is readilyvisible to the operator or audience. A casing 3| encloses the screen 30within the cabinet and may contain a plurality of electric lamps '32 and33, preferably of different colors, such as red and green, which arelighted when the phonograph is not playing, thereby causing the screen30 to glow with an attractive iridescent light, as hereinafterdescribed.

The projecting mechanism includes a lens system comprising a reflector35, an adjustable lamp '36, a condenser lens 31 having suitable exteriorcooling fins 38, a projection lens 39 and a shield 49, as shown in Fig.3. The lens system and associated apparatus are mounted in a housing 42having a suitable cover which may be opened to permit ready access tothe parts.

The pictures or other insignia which are to be projected upon the screen39 are carried by a wheel or disc 44 having its hub 45 keyed by setscrew 46 to a rotatable shaft 41 suitably mounted on bearings 48 and 49on a supporting frame 50 within the housing 42. The wheel 44, shown indetail in Figs; '7 to 10, is composed of two outer circular plates 52and 53 of equal diameter, and an inner circular plate 54 of smallerdiameter having spaced'extensions or spokes 55, which serves as a spacerfor the'outer plates 52 and 53 and thereby forms a series of slots 56about the periphery of the wheel 44 betwee'n the various spokes 55. I

The surface of the wheel 44 is provided with a plurality of equallyspaced openings 51, adjacent the periphery thereof, which constituteframes or windows for the various pictureswhich are to be projected uponthe screen 30,- these openings or frames 51 corresponding to the numberof phone'- graph records employed'in the machine. The individualpictures 60, preferably consisting of ordinary squares of motion picturefilm, are inserted through the peripheral slots 59in the Wheel 44 intoregistry with the respective openings or frames 51 as best shown.inliigs. 8 and 9.

In order to hold the pictures 63 in place I provide a plurality ofspring clips El which are mounted axially about the wheel M, one foreach picture frame, each clip being provided with a detent 62 which isadapted to enter a slot 63 in the plate 53 of wheel 4'3 to engage andhold its associated picture til when the spring Bl is depressed as shownin Fig. 8.

In order to disengage the detents 62 from the pictures I provide aplurality of small push buttons 65, one allotted to each clip 6| asshown in, Figs. 7 to 9. The shanks of the push buttons 65 extend throughholes in the wheel 64 into engagement with the respective spring clips6|, so that, when any button E is depressed as shown in Fig. 9, itforces the detent 62 out of its hole 63 against the normal tension ofspring 6i thereby permitting the picture 6K) to be withdrawn and changedas required. The wheel' i l is positioned between the condenser lens 3iand the projection lens 39 as shown in Fig. '3, so that, as the wheelshaft 4? rotates, the pictures Eli are brought into the proper positionfor projection upon the screen 30 as illustrated in Fig. 5.

I shall now describe the mechanism for rotating the picture wheel 4:3 insynchronism with the record selecting or changing mechanism, whereby theparticular picture allotted to any given record is automatically broughtinto the proper position in the lens system for projection upon thescreen 36 when the operator selects said record to be played. A cord illis fastened at one end to an extension $8 on the U-shaped member of therecord selecting mechanism, as shown in Fig. l,

and this cord passes over a plurality of idler" rollers m, H, 12, i3 andM, and thence over an adjustable cone pulley 76 to which the end I! ofsaid cord 67 is fastened as shown in Fig. 5.

The adjustable pulley 76 is mounted on the rotatable shaft 57 which alsocarries the, picture wheel M as previously described. It will thus beseen that when the U-shaped member 24, bar

pivoted to the frame at -93, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The lever 92-hasa forked end '95 which engages beneath an arm96 forming part of a rockerarm 97 which is pivoted to the frame at 98 as shown inFigs. 4 and 6; Thearm 97 has a U-shaped extension 99 carrying mercury switches Hit and NH,the switchlflfl controlling the screen lamps 32 and 33 while the switchlill controls the lens lamp 36. The arm '96 carries a detent W3cooperating'with a ratchet I04 which is keyed to the rotatable shaftcarrying the picture wheel as shown in Figs 3 and 4. When the detent Hi3engages the teeth of ratchet Hi l, as in Fig. 4, the shaft 4'! andpicture wheel 44 are locked against rotation, and at such time one oranother of the pictures 60 carried by the wheel 3 1 will be exactlycentered in the lens system for accurate projection upon the screen 39,and under such conditions the rocker arm 91 is tipped toward the left asviewed in Fig, 4 so as to close the circuit of lens switch ml and lightthe lens lamp 3% as illustrated in Fig. 11. However, when the cord 88releases its tension on arm 92, as it does when the turntable 2 islowered to its normal inoperative position, a spring I66 (Figs. 4 and 6)depresses arm 96, thereby withdrawing detent N33 from engagement withratchet I04 and tipping the rocker arm 97 toward the right as viewed inFig. 4, thus breaking the circuit of switch Id! and extinguishing thelens lamp 3B and at the same time operating switch H10 and energizingthe screen lamps 32 and 33 over thecircuit shown in Fig. 11. Asillustrated in Fig. 11, the electric lamp circuit may be provided with ahand switch Hill for disconnecting the current when the machine is notin use.

I! and associated elements of the record selecting mechanism of Fig. lare raised to select a given phonograph record, the'cord 67 willlikewise be the lens system in the proper position for projection uponthe screen 3%. When the bar I! and associated elements of the recordselecting mechanism are lowered, the pulley l6 and consequently thepicture wheel M are rotated correspondingly under the action of asuitable spring 19 one end of which is fastened to the frame 50 of themachine and the other end of which is secured to a suitable chain orother connecting link 80 which is secured to the shaft 4? as shown inFigs. 3 and 4.

The mechanism controlling the electric circuits of the colored screenlamps 32 and 33 and the lens lamp 36 is actuated by the apparatus forraising and lowering the turntable 2 of the phonograph. For this purposethe pin 1 carried by the yoke 5 of the turntable mechanism carries anextension 82 as shown in Fig. l. Toward the end of the travel of thebell crank lever 8, during the raising of the turntable 2, the yoke 5 ismoved to a position where the extensionBZ of pin 1 engages a finger 83of a slidable bar 8 3 having a longitudinal slot 85 tracking on pins 86secured to the frame of the machine. The lower end of the slidable bar84 is secured to a cord 88 which passes over idler rollers 39, 99 and 9|and is secured at its opposite end to a lever 92 which is It will beevident that many changes'may be made in the details of construction andmethods of operation herein shown and described without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,selective means operable to automatically select a record from the groupand to initiate the playing thereof, a picture projecting mechanismincluding a screen, a light source and a lens system for projectingpictures upon said screen, a movable picture display member containing aplurality of pictures adapted to be moved into the field of said lenssystem for projection upon said screen, each of said pictures beingappropriate to an individual record, means actuated by said selectivemeans for moving said display member into the field of said lens systemin position to project the picture appropriate to the selected recordupon said screen, and means actuated upon the completion of saidselecting operation to illuminate said light source to project theselected picture upon said screen.

2. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,a movable turntable, a record-changing mechanism for selecting saidrecords and for moving the selected record into a position to bereceived by said turntable, operating means for said turntable formoving same into a position to receive the selected record from saidrecord-changing mechanism, a picture projecting mechanism including ascreen, a light source and a lens system for projecting pictures uponsaid screen, a movable picture display member containing a plurality ofpictures movable in the field of said lens system for projection uponsaid screen, each of said pictures being appropriate to anindividualrecord, means actuated by said record-changing mechanism formoving said display member, into the field of said lens system inposition to project a picture appropriate to the selected record uponsaid screen, and means actuated upon the completion of said selectingoperation to illuminate said light source to project the selectedpicture upon said screen.

3. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,selective means operable to automatically select a record from the groupand to initiate the playing thereof, a picture projecting mechanismincluding a screen, a lamp, and a projection lens and condenser lensbetween said screen and said lamp, a rotatable picture display wheelcontaining a plurality of pictures rotatable directly between saidprojection and condenser lenses for projection upon said screen, meansactuated by said selective means for rotating said wheel to bring aselectedv picture into registry in said projecting mechanism in positionfor projection upon said screen, and means actuated upon the completionof said selecting operation to light said lamp to project the selectedpicture upon said screen.

4. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,selective means operable to automatically select a record from the groupand to initiate the playing thereof, a picture projecting mechanismincluding a screen and a lens system for projecting pictures upon saidscreen, a rotatable picture display wheel containing a plurality ofpictures rotatable directly in the field of said lens system forprojection upon said screen, said wheel having av plurality of openingsforming windows adjacent 5. In an automatic phonograph of the typecontaining a group of records, selective means operable to automaticallyselect a record from the group and to initiate the playing thereof, apicture projecting mechanism including a screen,

with said windows, releasable spring clips on said wheel fiexed toengage said pictures for clamping same in place at said windows, meansactuated by said selective means for rotating said wheel to bring aselected picture into registry in said projecting mechanism in positionfor projection upon said screen, and means actuated upon the completionof said selecting operation to light said lamp to project the selectedpicture upon said screen.

6. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,selective means operable to automatically select a record from saidgroup and to initiate the playing thereof, a picture projectingmechanism including a screen and a lens system for projecting picturesupon said screen, a rotatable picture display wheel containing aplurality of pictures rotatable directly in the field of said lenssystem for projection upon said screen, each of said pictures beingappropriate to an individual record, a lamp circuit controlled by saidselective means and normally illuminating said screen when said iecordsare not in use, means operated by said selective means uponthe selectionof a record for rotating said picture display wheel into the field ofsaid lens system and for projecting the picture appropriate to theselected record upon said screen, and means operated by said selectivemeans upon the selection of a record to deenergize said lamp circuitduring the playing of the selected record.

7. In an automatic phonograph of the type containing a group of records,a movable turntable, a record-changing mechanism for selecting saidrecords and for moving the selected record into a position to bereceived by said turntable, operating means for said turntable formoving same into a position to receive the selected record from saidrecord-changing mechanism, a picture projecting mechanism including ascreen and a lens system for projecting pictures upon said screen, arotatable picture display wheel containing a plurality of picturesrotatable directly in the field of said lens system for projection uponsaid screen, each of said pictures being appropriate to an individualrecord, a lamp circuit adapted for directly illuminating said screen alamp, and a projection lens and condenser lens screen, said wheel havinga plurality of openings forming windows adjacent the periphery of thewheel and having slots in the peripheral edge for the ready insertion ofpictures into registry when said records are not in use, means actuatedby said record-changing mechanism for rotating said picture displaywheel into the field of said lens system in position to project thepicture appropriate to the selected record upon said screen, and meansactuated by the movement of said turntable for deenergizing said lampcircuit and projecting the selected picture upon said screen during theplaying of the selected record.

JERRY LEVY.

